SNAKES & ARROWS

SNAKES & ARROWS is a return to COUNTERPARTS-era sonics, focusing primarily on heavy songs that have a great deal of punch to them. Consider it like the SIGNALS/GRACE UNDER PRESSURE two punch; like Signals, VAPOR TRAILS had them explore a new sound (or in this case, a new version of an old sound), while Snakes & Arrows, like Grace Under Pressure, is the capitalization of that sound. The opener "Far Cry" and the song "Spindrift" strike some of the heaviest riffs they've ever written, while the three (!!!) instrumentals break up the action at key points to keep the album from getting overbearing. We get a nice mixture of songs that are closer to hard rock, like "The Larger Bowl", songs that are closer to heavy metal like "Spindrift" (with nice KING CRIMSON sonic references, to boot), songs that are closer to prog like "Far Cry" and "Armor and Sword".

At this point, fans should expect that Rush is no longer just a prog band, or just a heavy metal band, or just hard or pop rock, but are all of these. This album features all of these sounds in a fairly even mix, which is new for the band. The lyrical roll continues from the previous album, with these songs being powerful, mature examinations of the destructive capabilities of faith. The sequencing is also top notch once more, with each song fitting nicely into the next up until the end. This album isn't a masterpiece and it doesn't completely blow me away, but it is solid and features some really great songs. As a result of the consistency in this album, I typically recommend it to more modern listeners who have never heard Rush, as it features elements of all the kinds of sounds they had through their career save possibly for the more synth-oriented material, but also has a kind of cohesiveness and satisfaction on its own. Excellent album. Four stars.